first of all, this.
classic disney, you do me right :) there is all sorts of spiritual goodness in that clip :)
Let's just start with this line ~ Remember who you are.
One thing that's been on my mind as BYU's starting up again is the idea of identity and where it comes from. BYU can be a difficult climate to live in since there are so many people who are better than you at what you're "best at" haha. Everyone there is above average or better, which makes everyone just... average. You may have been the valedictorian/concert pianist/drama star/all-star athlete/funniest/nicest/most spiritual person in your home ward or in high school, but everyone at BYU was "that kid" in high school. Thus, if you've built your identity around what you thought made you special, coming to BYU and having that stripped away can cause a major identity crisis and be extremely difficult.
Thus it becomes apparent that we must build our identities upon something else. Something unchanging, something intrinsic.
Let's look at a story from the Bible of someone who did just that... Joseph in Egypt!
Joseph is an individual who could've very well based his identity on all he had going for him. Favorite son, best-dressed in Canaan, most visionary... the kid was sweeping in the ancient Israelite superlatives.
... Until one day when all of that was taken from him. He was literally stripped of his coat of many colors, taken away from his family, his country, his language... everything that, to an outside observer, made him "him." Yet somehow, he held true to who he was and demonstrated incredible integrity in the face of great temptation.
How was Joseph able to hold true and stick to his values even when literally no one around him knew who he was or what those values even were? I believe that Joseph had a proper understand of who he really was, separate from outside conditions. This is how he was able to answer Potiphar's wife with "how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?"
Even when he was thrown into prison and once again had everything taken from him - favorite servant of Potiphar no more - he held true to who he was and thrived even in a prison setting. His actions reflected his knowledge about who he really was. And eventually, after many years, he was able to do great things for Egypt and reunite with his family. {Genesis 37, 39-47}
So who was Joseph? Who are we?
Joseph knew, as we can know, that:
"All of you are children of the most High."
"We are the offspring of God."
{Deut. 14:1, Ps. 82:6, Hosea 1:10, Acts 17:29, Romans 8:16}
This is an identity that doesn't change. No matter where we are or what our circumstances are, nothing can change our identity that we are children of God, who loves us. This knowledge changes us and affects our every action, as it did Joseph's. No matter where you're going to school, or if you're going to school at all, this identity does not change.
To Simba's protest of, "I'm not who I used to be," Mufasa countered "Remember who you are" - intrinsically and eternally.
You are more than what you have become. You must take your place. Remember who you are - a child of the Most High God, eternally beloved of Him, created in His image :)
:)
Let's just start with this line ~ Remember who you are.
One thing that's been on my mind as BYU's starting up again is the idea of identity and where it comes from. BYU can be a difficult climate to live in since there are so many people who are better than you at what you're "best at" haha. Everyone there is above average or better, which makes everyone just... average. You may have been the valedictorian/concert pianist/drama star/all-star athlete/funniest/nicest/most spiritual person in your home ward or in high school, but everyone at BYU was "that kid" in high school. Thus, if you've built your identity around what you thought made you special, coming to BYU and having that stripped away can cause a major identity crisis and be extremely difficult.
Thus it becomes apparent that we must build our identities upon something else. Something unchanging, something intrinsic.
Let's look at a story from the Bible of someone who did just that... Joseph in Egypt!
Joseph is an individual who could've very well based his identity on all he had going for him. Favorite son, best-dressed in Canaan, most visionary... the kid was sweeping in the ancient Israelite superlatives.
... Until one day when all of that was taken from him. He was literally stripped of his coat of many colors, taken away from his family, his country, his language... everything that, to an outside observer, made him "him." Yet somehow, he held true to who he was and demonstrated incredible integrity in the face of great temptation. |
| i feel like Joseph is always making this same pose... poor guy ;) |
Even when he was thrown into prison and once again had everything taken from him - favorite servant of Potiphar no more - he held true to who he was and thrived even in a prison setting. His actions reflected his knowledge about who he really was. And eventually, after many years, he was able to do great things for Egypt and reunite with his family. {Genesis 37, 39-47}
So who was Joseph? Who are we?
Joseph knew, as we can know, that:
"All of you are children of the most High."
"We are the offspring of God."
{Deut. 14:1, Ps. 82:6, Hosea 1:10, Acts 17:29, Romans 8:16}
This is an identity that doesn't change. No matter where we are or what our circumstances are, nothing can change our identity that we are children of God, who loves us. This knowledge changes us and affects our every action, as it did Joseph's. No matter where you're going to school, or if you're going to school at all, this identity does not change.
To Simba's protest of, "I'm not who I used to be," Mufasa countered "Remember who you are" - intrinsically and eternally.
You are more than what you have become. You must take your place. Remember who you are - a child of the Most High God, eternally beloved of Him, created in His image :)
:)
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